Why do major chemical accidents still happen in China: Analysis from a process safety management perspective

As an important consideration in the chemical industry, chemical process safety has received notable attention in China. However, catastrophic chemical accidents still occur. To better understand why accidents continue to occur, this paper presented a diagnostic analysis of 14 major chemical accidents in China from 2012 to 2022 based on VOSviewer software. The authors analysed the correlation between the accident causation and their relationship with the safety management elements. The study observed that inferior process safety culture, intentional violation (rule-breaking) of procedure, inadequate safety training, and illegal operations were the most frequent causes of accidents. These causes highlighted the prominent gaps in PSM in China in the process safety culture, compliance with standards, the conduct of operations, process safety competency, and training & performance assurance. The results based on co-occurrence analysis indicated a strong correlation between these gaps in PSM. Enterprises should pay attention to collaborative management among them. These deficiencies in the enterprise’s PSM system showed that the essential defects in China’s chemical industry are a poor safety culture, inadequate accident investigation, inadequate training, and a lack of chemical safety personnel. The study recommended that the chemical industry establish superior process safety culture and competency for all personnel, monitor leading and lagging process safety indicators, apply inherent safety, and practice advanced safety management concepts. We hope that the findings can provide China’s perspectives and strengths for global chemical safety.